'Long Night's Moon' rises overnight Monday

The moon as seen three days before the full moon in December 2008. (James Humphreys/Wikimedia…)

December 16, 2013|By Scott Dance, The Baltimore Sun

The Long Night’s Moon will be in the night sky early Tuesday morning, getting its name from its proximity to the winter solstice. But it may be hard to see through growing clouds from another snowy system.

The moon reaches its fullest phase at 4:28 a.m. Tuesday, so it will be nearly full Monday night when it rises at 5:22 p.m., about half an hour after sunset. It’s also known as the Full Cold Moon.

It will be out all night, not setting until 7:15 a.m., just a few minutes before sunrise.

Cloudy skies are forecast by Monday night and into Tuesday morning, with a chance for snow showers Tuesday morning.

The winter solstice comes at 12:11 p.m. on Dec. 21. From Monday until then, the day will "shrink" about 50 more seconds, until there are 9 hours, 24 minutes of daylight on the solstice.